Some neat distribution news is coming in to kick off the first week of 2012. Festival favorite Juan of the Dead has officially been granted a green card and access to the United States. Read on for the details.

According to Variety, Focus Features’ digital distribution initiative, Focus World, has added Cuban zombie comedy Juan of the Dead to its U.S. release slate.

The film premiered in September at Toronto. “‘Juan’ turns on a 40-year-old slacker who, when a zombie outbreak hits Cuba, turns a quick buck slaying families’ shambling undead.”

Juan de los Muertos, as it’s known in its homeland, is a co-production among Spain, Mexico, and Cuba budgeted at 1.3 million Euros.

SynopsisJuan is a typical forty-year-old slacker. One day Havana begins to fill up with zombies. Juan decides that the best way to cope with it is to prosper. “Juan of the dead killed their loved ones” is his slogan, and his mission is to help people get rid of those infected around them … for a price. But the situation gets worse — while everyone is escaping to sea as a means to get away, Juan is left with no choice but to become a hero, staying to defend his country and protect his own on an island that has turned into a real bloodbath.